


The Tomorrow People.

by hayes768



Series: New Age of The Marvel Cinematic Universe. [2]
Category: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1960s, F/M, My take on the FF for the MCU, Period Piece
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 01:03:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20349793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayes768/pseuds/hayes768
Summary: On a normal Friday in 1961, explorers Reed Richards, Susan Strom and her younger brother, Johnny, and Ben Grimm were totally unknown to the public. By the following Monday, the four are known as superstars the world over. This is their fantastic story of how one team came together to become a family.





	The Tomorrow People.

**Author's Note:**

> LIke my love for Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, I absoulutely love the Fantastic Four due entirely to the simply epic comic book run by Johathan Hickman. And since a FF movie has been annonced to be in the works for the MCU, I thought about I would introduce the team into the universe, and eventully explain how the team ended up in that lifeboat found in the fourth chapter of my first MCU fanfic, Agent 77, but these two series can be read separately.
> 
> If I had a chance to cast the FF for the MCU like I invisioned them while I was writing, I would cast John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as Reed Richards and Susan Strom respectively, Dacre Montgomery as Johnny Storm, and David Harbour as Ben Grimm. (Real original, right? Just like everyone else on the internet.)
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys!

* * *

Manhattan, New York - 1961.

“Hey, if you actually look up at where you’re going and what you’re doing, you might notice that there are other people walking on this sidewalk besides you. Watch out, pal!"

The condescending remarks made by the passing pedestrians hardly enters the overthinking mind the world's leading scientist, Dr. Reed Richards as he rushes down a busy sidewalk at an ever increasing pace and a briefcase in his hand, but he must fight his tie from slipping out of his business suit and blowing in the heavy wind while he stops to check his watch for a moment and sees that he is already late for a very important meeting which began ten minutes ago, so he picks up the pace even faster as he recites a quote from one of his favorite children's books. “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.”

“Reed Richards, stop where you right now, mister!” The only person who seems extremely capable of keeping up with Reed to almost frightening degree is fellow scientific colleague and his wife, Susan Storm-Richards, who has an absolutely livid expression on her face when she catches up with him and hands over his briefcase outside one of the tallest buildings among the city skyline. “Reed, I know you’re nervous about this meeting with investors, but that man you passed on the street was right. Just because you’re in a hurry to get to the meeting on time, but doesn’t mean you should be so careless with the other people around you, and if you would get out of your own head for a second, you would realize that we are already here.”

Reed remains in a daze as if he isn’t quite aware of his surroundings or where he was running until he turns around and looks upward to grasp the whole scope of the daunghtinly tall brownstone building that makes up SHIELD’s New York Headquarters. “So we are. Splendid work, Sue, you were always more attentive than me. Shall we go inside.” He begins walking inside without a care for how disheveled his suit appears until Susan grabs him by the tie and forces him to turn back around towards her. “What are you doing? We’re already late!”

“Our lateness won’t matter if you look like you just got out of bed. Now, hold still and give me your best interview smile, please.” Reed can’t help but smile at Susan as she places his tie back in his suit jacket before she reaches up to straighten out his honey brown hair to be presentable, then she does the same thing with her own business outfit and golden blonde bob hairstyle before she takes his hand and they share a kiss. “Whatever happens in that meeting, remember that I believe in you and I always will.”

“And that’s why I can do the impossible.” Reed says with another kiss to her lips before they walk into the building hand in hand. They instinctively walk over to the receptionist to confirm their meeting until an impatient Peggy Carter steps in their path and flashes her SHIELD badge, leading Reed to become very apologetic in tone with an expression as he explains their tardiness. “You must be Agent Carter, we’re are Dr. Richards and Dr. Storm, pleased to meet you. How are the investors?”

“They’re very, very cross with you, Dr. Richards. You should’ve arrived sooner. Now, if you two will please follow me.” Peggy trails off, marching to her own pace and expecting the others to keep up as they walk into the elevator and she presses a button to take them to the top floor. The tapping of her heels provide a comfortable rhythm to Reed and Susan while the pair walk behind her down the hall until she opens two wooden doors, revealing three men sitting a crescent-like tale with three folders in front of them. The first is a middle-aged man around Peggy’s age with his short black hair beginning to gray, but that doesn’t exclude the well put together manner in which he conducts himself. The other two are younger people similar to Reed in age, one with a full head of brown hair and a hands-on scientific curiosity about him while the other man has black hair slicked back and greasy to match his extravagant clothes and personality. 

Peggy quickly takes a seat next to the older man, then provides an explanation of him and the other people at the table. “May I introduce my colleagues as apart of my organization, Howard Stark, and Dr. Henry Pym, I believe you two already know Victor Von Doom from your shared experiences at university, correct?

“Yes, gentleman, hi! I’ve dreamed of working all of you for a very long time!” Reed quickly surges towards the table to eagerly shake each of their hands with both of his own while the men continue to be unamused by his enthusiasm and his lateness, causing Reed to drop his smile and get right to business by removing documents from his briefcase to begin his presentation. “Um, I suppose I’ve used up everyone’s goodwill in this meeting already, so I will get right onto the expedition Dr. Storm and I proposing.”

Reed wears an expression of shaken confidence that brings out incoherent murmurs from within him before Sue mimes taking a deep breath beside him and he soon follows suit until he speaks in a more measured tone. “Greetings, everyone, I will make this simple and sweet, I, alongside Dr. Storm and Mr. Von Doom, have all dreamed of an expedition that will not only take us as a human species to the Moon far sooner than President Kennedy envisions, but far beyond into the greater unknown depths of a new frontier like he spoke of in his Democratic Nomination speech. Thanks to a generous investment of Mr. Von Doom, our dream is days away from becoming solid reality, now we’ve come here looking for permission of the United States Government to launch our experimental rocket and if you open your briefing packets, you will be able to see the rocket’s full specifications in great detail.”

Only Victor opens his packet from the table, drawing feelings of immense confusion from himself and Susan, and making Reed believe that he took a misstep somewhere and tries to backtrack with his presentation, but Howard silences him with a raise of his hand before Reed can speak while the older man speaks in a calm, dispassionate tone. “There’s no need for you to continue, Dr. Richards. SHIELD is scraping your expedition in its entirety and going in a different direction with Dr. Pym and his sizing technology. We’re truly sorry for any inconvenience this causes, but you should we agreed to the final meeting to inform you of this development as a courtesy to you and your team.”

“What?!” Reed, Susan, and Victor all say at once with Victor becoming much aniger in his tone as he stands up and slams his fist on the table. Victor’s rage flumes beyond normal in the face of seeing his hard work be wasted so carelessly, and he simply lunges himself at Reed from across the table and locks him in a stranglehold until Susan breaks them apart.

“Enough! Please act professional!” She says, holding her hands out and standing in between the men to act as a buffer before she speaks to the panel of SHIELD Agents, trying not to let her tone of broken disappointment out while doing so. “We have focused years of shared effort into this project, and now knowing all of that has been a waste is greatly disheartening to say the least. Can we at least why?”

While Peggy shows some sympathy in her expression, a smirk can be seen slowly growing on Hank’s face as Howard explains with an expression that seems to be frozen like stone. “Where do I begin? Let’s start with the fact that your theory of their being intelligent life somewhere on the Moon and beyond is circumstantial at best, and dangerous at worst, as is your highly experimental rocket ship parked at our facility in Albany. Secondly, you have no pilot to fly the rocket, and even if you were to find one in the lobby of this building somehow, there is no time to security screen and train them before the project is dismantled. Thirdly, and most importantly, when this country eventually makes it to the Moon, the President and his Cabinet in Washington believe it should be done as a wholly American endeavor, not as some fantastical dream of two delusional scientists and their bohemian, possibly communist financial backer.”

Howard takes a calming breath to compose himself after getting worked up in a furiously passionate tirade and his whole body becomes cold once more. “Now, would you three like to leave with your heads held high or would like to make a scene first?”

The trio all choose the former with Reed and Sue consoling each other as they leave the room, hand in hand, and Victor silently grumbling to himself while staying on their heels. Victor tries to quell his anger during the elevator ride by clenching both of his fists over and over until his palms begin bleed as the three reach the lobby, and he releases his rage on Reed with a punch to the jaw, causing Reed to react in kind with a punch to the face that forms a large, deep gash just beneath Victor’s right eye and goes down his face before Susan has a chance to pull the pair apart once again.

Victor reacts with a horrific, undignified upon touching his newly formed wound and pushes Reed and Susan away further when they try looking at the damage, even though Reed explaining his actions in an apologetic tone. “I’m so sorry, Victor, I had a lapse in judgement when I struck you. If you’ll please calm down, I can explain how are years of work will not g-”

“Save it for someone who cares, Reed.” Victor says with all friendliness having left his voice. “In your impossible quest to prove you’re the smartest person alive and save the world, you have completely ruined me, my face, and my reputation, there’s no telling how many more countless lives you will ruin before you die, I hope dear Susan will not be one of them as well. As for you and me, our relationship is over, as fragile as it was, and you will rue the day we ever met. Now, I will leave this backward country and go back to Latveria, where my genius will truly be appreciated by my people.”

Reed devastatingly watches his old friend leave the building, then he hangs his head in shame because Victor was right, in his quest to reach the bigger picture, Reed is often blind to the journey that must be taken to get there, or the people by his side, luckily, Susan always sets him on the correct path in the gentlest of ways. “Victor’s wrong, you know? You’re not going to ruin me or anyone else, I chose to partner with you on your dream expedition, and I fell in love with it and every other part of you as a result. So if you know me like I know you, then we can’t let our dream dieManhattan, New York, 1961. here, can we?“

“But what if we’re wrong in thinking we can reach the stars without consequences?”

Susan responds to her husband’s question with a decisive kiss on his lips before she speaks in a whisper. “You and I will face them together, but we won’t know our consequences or sucessues unless we try! So, what are you prepared to do?”

A smile slowly grows on Reed face as he comes back to a happier mood, Susan is just a constant light in his life that makes him see the brightest side. “If we’re going to go on this expedition on short notice, then we need a pilot we can trust completely. We need Ben.”

“Then let’s go get him.”

Driven by adventure and reignited by their faith in one another, Reed and Susan run outside and flag down a taxi from the sidewalk before they try to come off as anything more than gitty children as the driver speaks to them inside. “Where can I take you two today?”

A jumbled mess of words soon follow from the pair before the driver takes a moment to think about what they are trying to say as a destination. “Take us to Yancy Street, please!"

* * *

Hours later in the suburbs of New York, a young Johnny Storm is dangerously close to dying right now, and yet, the handsome blonde rouge feels a rush of adrenaline keeping him alive as he drives widely down the street in his 1951 MG TD roadster while kissing an African American bombshell in his arms.

“Johnny!!!”

The girl screaming in his face causes Johnny to look away from the cute freckles on her coco brown skin, piercing emerald green eyes and black curly hair and back on the road seconds before their car has a chance to crash into an oncoming vehicle after drifting into the opposite side of the street. Johnny laughs in relief as regains his cool composure and tries to play the event off like it was apart of his plan all along. “I, uh, meant to do that, Dorrie. Are you okay?”

“I’m more worried about us, Johnny.” Dorrie says, causing Johnny’s confident smirk to slightly falter as he drives down Yancy Street where his sister’s shared townhouse apartment resides behind an old neighborhood boxing gym. "I mean, do your folks even know we’re coming into town unannounced like this?”

“More or less. Honestly, there’s a lot on my mind right and might not have told my sister about our arrival, but we’re family and that has to count for something, so I bet she'll let us crash at her place for a few days.

The mystery surrounding Johnny’s answer causes Dorrie to have immense doubts while he turns off the car’s headlights and slows the vehicle to a rolling speed as he drives into the backside of the apartment’s parking. Dorrie tries to leave the car once it’s come to a complete stop, but Johnny quickly leaps out first and runs over to close her door before she’s even had a chance to react. “What gives? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?”

Johnny responds to the question by kissing Dorrie passionately and with a longing that makes both of them hunger for more once they separate from each other after a long time, then he gives a charming smile as he folds his arms on her window and kneels down to talk with her at eye level. “God, no, Dorrie. I just think we could use some time alone, you’re the first person I’ve dated that I feel a true connection with and I want to see where it leads us after a year sneaking around, I'm still trying to figure out how to tell my sister about us in this turbulent time of social change, I just need more time, please…?"

Dorrie immediately scoffs at Johnny's attempt of puppy dog eyes before shutting him up with one last kiss as she pulls him to his feet. "You're so lucky you're cute, baby. I can give you more, as long as we figure out what to say together. Now, can you please go inside to see if your family's awake, or if I need to wait out here until they're asleep to come inside myself?"

"Yes, ma'am." Johnny stands and walks away with a totally lovestruck smile while moving towards the back porch of the boxing gym apartment, but any happiness he is feeling quickly disappears as he hides himself in the darkness upon overhearing a heated conversation between Susan with her stick in the mud husband, and their neighbor, Ben Grimm.

“Reed, ever since we were children together, that ambitious brain of yers has outpaced all of us, even yer own feet, but I think you’ve truly outdone yourself here.” A smile is soon seen on Reed face at his friend’s complement of him, but Ben sighs as he continues, afraid that Reed isn’t seeing his point. “While I understand what ya wanna do, I’m worried ya haven’t thought this trip to the stars all the way through. I know there are reports of the Russins sending someone into space next year, so have you built a craft to take us to the Moon and match or even surpass their progress?”

Susan nods, stepping forward to explain while Reed steps back to grab a notebook from his briefcase. “Yes. With some help from brother’s vast mechanical expertise, the three of us were able to come up with this.” Susan quickly opens on a page filled with sketches of a sleek black supersonic aircraft that looks more like a large and roomy F-86 fighter plane than a spacecraft, attached to a large booster rocket designed to carry it to the stars. Susan and Reed take Ben’s continued gaze at the sketches as a good sign before she speaks up with something she hopes to seal the deal “We’re hoping you can fly her, Ben, that’s why we’re here.”

Ben whistles smoothly at the sketches before running hands through his long mane of light brown hair while in deep contemplation, then he sighs again once he catches a glance of a pair of boxing gloves next to his Air Force service medals for valor framed above the fireplace in the living room and he knows the answer even though he's itching to get back in the pilot's seat. “I really wanna to feel what she can do firsthand, but I can’t fly her. I have a responsibility to the kids who come to my gym and give them an outlet for their problems so they don't end up in gangs on the streets, and I haven’t seen the inside of a cockpit since coming home from Korea, with all of the advancements since then, it’ll be like flyin’ blind up there.”

“That's the beauty of this, Ben. This will be a quick trip to see if landing on the Moon is possible, we can leave tonight and be back by Monday. Reed told me how you aced your Air Force flight training with the highest of marks, your accolades only grew with the great number of enemy planes you shot down during the war. Now, this craft might be state of the art with everything from the advanced engines to the simple parachutes, but I was hoping you would fly her, so I designed the cockpit to be spot on to the ones you once flew in, except this craft seats four people instead of one. It'll be like you never left the Air Force. We've also done countless checks for every meticulous detail about the rocket and this expedition, now it's upon you to fly us on it, please."

Feeling as if he's seconds from giving in, Ben offers what he thinks is the strongest counterpoint of his whole argument. "All yer fancy rockets won't mean jack if we ain't prepared for the dangers of space, that's what no one is seeing here. What if we come across something we didn't plan for and we die because of it? What if we ain't supposed to be up there at all in the first place?"

"What if we're the first astronauts see outer space up close in the way it’s meant to be seen and return home safely?" Overcome with enthusiasm yet again, Reed puts one arm around Ben and the other around Susan while standing closely between them in order to help them see the vision he sees as he reads an imaginary news headline. “Imagine the headline on Monday, ‘War Hero Pilot And Two Brillant Scientists Return Home After Being First to Land On The Moon!’ Admitly, it’s wordy, but the sentiment rings true, and with the three of us at the helm of this expedition, what could possibly go wrong? And if something does go wrong, then I’ll buy you a 6-pack of beer for Christmas, but we will achieve heights far greater than anything we could here on Yancy Street.”

I’m Jewish, remember?” Ben quickly interjects, snapping angrily. “I’ll have you know that I grew up in this very apartment, and became a hero beyond my military service through my boxing classes, I’ve earned the people’s respect on this street!”

Reed retracts his statement for softer words that still appeals to Ben’s sense of adventure. “True, my mistake. I’ll buy you eight 6-packs for Hanukkah. Ben, just imagine gaining respect from the whole country as well as the people of Yancy Street. We could go from a small number of people knowing our names around the neighborhood to become people heroes who are known the world over as legends.”

Despite clear warning signs telling him to refuse, Ben can’t help it when an adventurous smile creeps its way onto his face as he extends a hand for Reed and Susan to shake. “I might regret asking this, but when are we leaving?”

The trio’s eyes are drawn to a clock hanging on a wall in the kitchen reading 2 A.M, and Reed offers an answer while leading the others to back door towards his car. “Now, we need to leave now. It’s over a three hour drive to Albany from here, and the skeleton crew guarding the ship won’t last forever. Come on, let’s make history.”

Johnny is thankful the trio don’t recognize him and Dorrie or his car as in the dark as they march to Reed’s 1952 Oldsmobile 88, but he debates revealing himself before it becomes too late, especially when thinking about his sister’s safety in relation to Reed’s final question. What could possibly go wrong? 

Born in 1941, Johnny never knew his dad, as Franklin Storm shipped out before his son's birth, and he was one of the unfortunate soldiers who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attack, and his mother, Mary barely showed him love or affection upon discovering his older sister to be a child science protege, straining Mary's relationship with her son before they've even begun to build one. Thusly, Johnny always felt as if he was the black sheep of the Storm Family, with the boy’s only comfort coming from his personal heroes of Captain America, and more importantly, his own sister. Instead of passing him off an annoying little brother, Susan always saw something in her brother, something he still doesn’t see in himself, they always played together as children, even though she was ten years his senior and definitely could have her time hanging out with children her own age like Reed and Ben. Often, Susan encouraged her brother’s love of mechanical engineering and vintage cars as they grew in a way that their mother never did for the boy until the day Mary died of lung cancer when he was just sixteen. From then on, Susan was truly in her brother’s corner throughout the rest of his life up to this point, and Johnny feels like he’s doing his sister a disservice if he isn’t there to be in her corner now.

With his mind made up, Johnny races back to his car after realizing Reed’s car left before he could convince the trio to let him join in, but he manages to give Dorrie quite a shocking scare as he vaults into the driver's seat and turns the ignition over with the utmost haste. “Sorry, Dorrie, we won’t be going inside. There’s been a change of plans, we’re going on a late night drive instead.”

“Okay… Where?”

“To the future.”

If Dorrie was hoping Johnny would slow down and stop driving recklessly, if anything, he’s being more reckless in his quick pursuit of Reed’s car without the aid of headlights, as he has them turned off to reduce the chance of Susan recognizing his car in the rearview mirror. Nearly everyone would call this move idoitic and dangerous while Johnny would call it brilliant since he has stripped and rebuilt his car from nothing but parts, he knows exactly how everything ticks in a precise rhythm, so he knows when to speed up to keep track of Reed’s vehicle and when to slow down to stay away from Susan’s protective gaze, all the while Dorrie prays for them not to collide with anything during the three hour journey to Albany.

Susan, on the other hand, has nothing less than a pleasant drive compared to her brother, with her head resting on Reed's shoulder from passenger seat as he drives to the base while Ben sits in the backseat and looks wistfully up at the stars in the night sky, already imagining himself among them until the car stops in front of the closed gate of a fenced off military base that houses the giant rocket ship within. Ben takes the nature of the base as a clear sign to turn around and go home to think about how they came so close to doing something great for the world, but he is confused when Susan and Reed get out of the car and approach the gate, leading him to follow their lead while asking a question. "What now, Reed? It's not like they'll let us in if we ask nicely."

"Now we must sneak through the base to the ship quickly and quietly, and it begins by crawling." It doesn’t take a genius like Reed to know what he means, as a small, unrepaired gap can clearly be seen in the fence for Susan and Ben to crawl through with Reed bringing up the rear. Ben groans in when frustration forcing his large body on the through the fence as Susan has an easier time with her smaller frame, but Reed is quick to offer Ben comfort while trying to relate to him. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon, just think of this like you're back in basic training."

"Okay, but I don't remember having to sneak around my base in order to get to the mess hall or my barracks every night." Ben uses sarcasm as a comfort to him to help him get through the tough squeeze, but doesn’t help everyone, especially Reed who is distracted enough by Ben’s wit to accidentally slice his hand on the fence’s wiring before either one can stop it from happening. “Are ya okay there? Do you think you’ll need a doctor?”

“I’m fine, it's just bleeding profusely and there’s a med kit onboard the ship. I can wait to tend to my injury until then.” Reed immediately nods and stands up from the fence with an absolutely determined look in his eyes that only a person so hellbent on achieving their goal is capable of conveying, even though Susan grabs his hand to examine the wound closely, only for Reed to pull away and walk away silently with his determination to grow ever more apparent, making Susan and Ben look at one another and wonder how far a mad scientist like Reed is willing to go to prove his genius when pushed.

Finally, Dorrie has a chance to breathe in some relief upon reaching their destination and Johnny slows the car down right next to Reed's empty vehicle mere minutes after it was parked. She doesn’t show any fascination of the base, even with the large rocket towering at least 350 feet above them in the foreground while that’s all Johnny has his eyes on. “Well done, sis, you and the square actually managed to build the damn thing, I always knew you would.” Johnny marvels in awe of the rocket for a minute or two more, simply taking in its majesty while standing from his seat to have a full scope of the vehicle’s every detail until his sense of adventure can’t be contained any longer and he hops out of the car in the same way he entered. “Goodbye, Dorrie, I’m off to be the first teen heartthrob in space.”

“Wait, what? You can’t seriously leave like this, and since when do you know a thing about space?”

“I may not know much about what’s up there, but I’ve heard my sister talk about this mission to have an idea, so I’m gonna up there to look out for her. And you’re right, I can’t leave like this…” Johnny tosses his car keys in Dorrie’s lap, then his tone becomes serious and thoughtful after kissing her passionately like it might one shared between them. “Please take care of yourself, Dorrie, as well as the car for a few days until I get back. But, in case I don’t, I love you.”

“I love you, too, Johnny.”

Johnny gives Dorrie a playful salute before turning on his heel and noticing Reed’s blood while carefully moving through the broken fence section, causing his curiosity to be instantly peaked once he sees the blood trail Reed left behind and hopes it will soon lead him to finally be reunited with his sister. Using cover from around the area and the blood trail as a guide, Johnny expertly sneaks through the base while also avoiding sparse guard portals and spotlights from lookout towers until the trail ends at the metal staircase leading to a small room with a door that has been jimmied from the outside and it isn't hard to see why upon sneaking inside to realizes it’s a locker room for spacesuits with the spaceship itself likely on the other side to another door on Johnny’s right, only three suits and their accompanying helmets are missing with one suit remaining.

He doesn’t have a chance to decide to try on the blue spacesuit however, for he is nearly thrown off balance by a powerful rumble beneath his feet and he knows the rocket has begun its countdown to launch. Johnny knows he has little time to waste, so he grabs a nearby chair and barricades the first door to stall any guards from catching him or the others already onboard, then he quickly strips down to his underwear and takes the space suit along with its black combat boots and gloves on his way out the second door to see the main entrance of Reed’s ship slowly closing for take off. Hoping to hide among the cargo supplies, Johnny throws all of his will at jumping across the quickly retracting bridge between the locker room and the ship, and then slipping underneath the ship’s closing door seconds before it would have decapitated the boy in the prime of his young life. Unfortunately, while the roar of the ship’s warming thrusters helped to mask Johnny’s entrance onboard to friends and enemies alike, the sound is making it incredibly difficult to hear Susan, Reed, and Ben shouting just ahead of him in the next room while Johnny dresses in his space suit. 

Susan grabs Reed and dives for the floor when hearing gunfire hit the completely bullet-proof hull while Ben remains calm and continues with the ship’s starting procedures, but he doesn’t miss a chance to joke. “Don’t worry, Reed. Those soldiers probably just think we’re spies and are trying to arrest for breaking into a government base, and probably treason too, can’t forget that!”

“Treason?” Reed asks while Susan helps him to his seat, where she quickly assists him get buckled in with two over the shoulder straps connect to a buckle going between the legs. "We can’t be arrested for treason, we’re not hostile forign agents like the Russians!”

“Maybe you’d like to go outside and tell them!”

“Enough, boys, enough!” As always, Susan is able to control the situation and causes the other two to see reason as she buckles herself in. “Ben, can you achieve liftoff? Once we’re high among the stars, then we can figure out of this mess when we get back down.”

“Just about ready.” Ben’s hand hovers over the ignition button next to the steering controls seconds before he presses it, but not until giving a final warning. “Hold onto yer butts, there’s gonna be a lot of G’s!”

If asked on any other day, Johnny would say he is able to conquer even the toughest of roller coasters on Coney Island, in fact, he loves and welcomes the challenge because it's the closest he could’ve ever come to ride in a rocket ship. Now, he’s finally has a chance, but he wasn’t expecting the experience to feel as if his skin is seconds away from liquifying off his bones as the pressure from the rapidly climbing altitude forces him on his back against the main door while he struggles to simply raise his arms to put his helmet on.

No immediate relief comes for Johnny during the ride through the stratosphere, whose stomach feels like it's doing so many backflips that it can be in the circus by now, leaving the boy with nothing to do except close his eyes, reach out to hold onto the rope of an empty cargo net for some stability as he wishes Susan isn't feeling the same way during this roller coaster ride straight from the depths of hell.

Susan remains professional despite clearly white-knuckling it internally alongside the others onboard, although she can’t help it when fear occasionally flashes across her face as she battles mounting vertigo no doubt everything is feeling right now, before Reed gives her hand a gentle squeeze and she turns to see him smiling like she’s his everything through his helmet even though he is clearly terrified as well, a smile which quickly reciprocated in full as they become the first husband and wife in outer space.

Ben is having an absolute ball when in comparison to the others, truthfully, he finds himself having to suppress the odd fit of laughter the comes with the rush of excitement brought on by being behind the instruments of a ship of such a high carilbar and being in total control through his excellent muscle memory like he was simply riding a bicycle. His only regret is that the whole experience ends far too soon and he must release the booster rocket to level the aircraft out once they reach the exosphere into greater outer space towards the Moon as the effects of zero gravity begin taking over. 

Despite the change in gravity, the trio don't unbuckle themselves in order to truly experience it. Instead Ben slows the craft down to cruising speed once their collective focus is transfixed on the new, dark environment as Earth becomes a shrinking image in the rearview and are they captivated by the chance of being the first to see the stars personally with the Moon becoming a greater reality with every passing moment they fly closer to it.

Even Johnny feels the immediate allure of space and must open the cargo bay doors just a crack in order to sneak a peek at the vast array of stars through the ship’s windshield, but the pull of space proves greater still when he opens the cargo door fully and floats into the cockpit to join Susan and the others as they marvel at this new and strange environment full of possibility. The Storm Siblings share a smile before Johnny takes her into a deep hug. “We really made it here, sis, can you believe it?”

“No, I honestly can’t. Nor can I believe you’re here to see it with me.” Susan's tone is completely genuine before her eyes widen upon realizing Johnny isn’t supposed to be here and she pushes him away as she and Reed unbuckle themselves to interrogate the young man like well meaning parents do while Ben continues flying the ship. “Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm! What in god’s name are you doing aboard this ship!?” 

“Oh, you full named me, why’d you have to full name me?” Johnny blows off the question, expecting Susan and Reed to do the same by the time he blinks, but they’re still staring at him sternly once he reopens his eyes. “I should ask you three the same question, I mean, it’s not you all thought of stealing this ship spontaneously after a peaceful friday drive! No, you wanted to be the first in space and I want to join you… as well as look after you, sis!”

In the vast blackness making up all of space, it’s easy for Ben to suddenly see the whole spectrum of colors through the windshield, especially what appears to be a man entirely made of silver who is quickly riding on a flying surfboard away from the Moon right in front of them with a gigantic mess of a cosmic storm with an ever changing rainbow of color in his wake. “Reed, Suzie, can you give the kid a break for a second and take a look at this science shit goin’ on. I can’t explain it.”

“Just a moment, please, Ben.” Susan waves Ben concern with his hand before turning his full attention back to Johnny. “You still haven’t answered our question, what are you doing aboard? Susan and I thought you attending college at Empire State University?”

The color completely drains from Johnny’s face and he curls up to make himself as small as possible upon answering in a low whisper. “Um, about that, I kinda was kicked out of school, sorry. It’s not my fault this time, the dean is a total prick and kicked me for dating a black girl from a neighboring school.”

“Can someone please look at what’s happening in front of me? It looks dangerous.” Ben speaks up again while the Surfer gets closer and closer to their position, but his words fall on deaf ears as Reed pinches the bridge of his nose impatiently with tunnel vision of the Moon.

“Susan, while I understand Johnny needs a disciplinary lecture, perhaps we could give him one once we land on the Moon, or after we return to Earth.” 

Johnny's eyes light up in response to Reed's words. "Yes, yes, what a good idea! I love that idea, I knew there was a reason why I like you, Richards."

“NO, WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS NOW! He’s gotten away with doing this too many times not to be disciplined right now!” Susan takes a few deep, calming breaths before adopting on the same gravely disappointed tone and expression that Johnny was so afraid of as she continues. “I’m starting to think you enjoy getting kicked out of school, since you’ve done it so much that it’s practically your profession by now, or maybe you just like the extra attention. Maybe you’ll like the extra attention you'll receive in the Army because if you keep this destructive cry of help up, I’ll be forced to send you to Viet-”

Finally fed up, Ben pulls a U-turn with the ship and throws the others around the cockpit without warning in the hopes of outrunning the cosmic storm, but even at top speed and with the strange sight of the Surfer cheering Ben on as he flies alongside the ship, the small distance only leaves the cosmic storm seconds away from overtaking the ship in its entirety. The four have no measures prevent the cosmic storm of unknown energy from coming, only react in horror once the rays bombarded them and their ship from every angle. 

"Ahhhh, my… insides are burning! Help me, sis, please!" Johnny exclaims while his space suit is ablaze and his protective totally destroyed, causing him to scream in extreme agony as Susan tries shielding her helpless little brother and struggling to help him over to a seat, where Reed tries to cover both of them with his outstretched arms while Ben turns the decaying ship around and tries to fly back to Earth as fast as the craft will go, being hit with tiny pebbles of asteroid within the cosmic rays as well through his shattered helmet.

The Silver Surfer shows a great deal of remorse as an outsider looking in on these horrific events unfold before him and he deeply considers stopping to help bring the travelers to safety with his powers, unfortunately, he knows his master isn't the most patient or benevolent of cosmic beings when they mean to feast, forcing the Surfer to turn a blind eye to the carnage for now in the hopes of atonement for his many sins someday.

Even if someone could hear the four scream in the innermost regions of outer space, it’s quickly becoming painfully evident that no one is coming to rescue them as the ship struggles to fly back through the cosmic storm in order to return to Earth as the prospect of reaching the Moon becomes nothing more than a memory. Ben is grateful that whatever effects of the cosmic storm isn’t affecting him in the way that it’s causing Johnny to still burn up as Susan tries everything in her power to keep him calm and Reed to keep both of them safe while his own body is quickly sagging on the floor from exhaustion, but even a war hero pilot in the peak of his life like Ben has limits. 

He feels the heaviness of his eyes and his grip on the steering controls to go slack as the ship begins to burn up on reentry into Earth’s atmosphere just as the sun is beginning to rise, the small amount of heat should be enough to keep him awake, only it’s doing exactly the opposite and putting him asleep like he’s under a warm blanket, but he manages to keep conscious long enough to burst through the clouds and spot salvation in the form of an empty grass field not far off from where they took off in the first place, then he deploys the parachutes and passes out with the rest of his shipmates while hoping that whatever god thought this disaster would make a good joke and placed the four into this mess to soon provide the softest of crash landings.

From the ground, a short and stout humanoid creature and his hideously mutated mole followers watch the ship streak across the sky and crash down in the nearby forest from a secluded cavern of underground tunnels, some of the followers are curious enough to brave the harsh sunlight and investigate when the impact of the crash caused some of their tunnels to collapse also threw Johnny away from the ship, but the Mole Man urges his followers back to safety in the dark with a decisive wave of his walking stick. “No, leave the Earthwalker alone, for now! Our chance to strike against the world above will come in time. Now, we must rest and prepare for the coming attack.” 

A small spark reignites Johnny’s heart after the impact of the crash, but the environment where he landed is hardly pleasant as he wakes on his back under a dense cloud of ash with the grass and trees around him has been burnt to a crisp. He sits up and remains in a daze until spotting himself in a puddle and the person staring back him at is completely on fire, he tries patting himself down to stop the flames, only they reignite seconds after his hands leave that part of his body, making him wonder how long he’ll have to burn before he dies. He waits and waits, but his death never comes and the flames don’t seem to hurt him or his tattered space suit before disappearing within him upon calming down.

Wondering what he can truly do with these new powers, Johnny slowly stands to his feet and focuses enough to make a fireball in his hand to fling at a nearby tree with a surprised smile and chuckle to boot. “Holy shit! I-I can make fire from nothing… I CAN MAKE FIRE!”

“I can see that, Johnny. Just extinguish yourself fully and walk towards me, then we can figure what happened together.”

Johnny’s heart rate quickens when he hears Susan’s voice nearby, but she isn’t seen anywhere in the field. “Um, sis, are you playing a prank on me? Where are you? I can hear you, but not see you, it’s like you’re invisible.”

“I’m right in fron-” Susan trails off before giving a blood curdling scream when she can’t see herself in the puddle Johnny was looking in earlier, then she begins speaks in a hyper tone while pacing back and forth to try and make sense of what’s happened. “It’s true, I’m invisible, but I wasn't like this when I left the crash site to look for you. What if I’m like this forever?”

“Maybe you can turn your powers on and off.” Johnny says, speaking calmly in the direction he imagines Susan to be. “I think I’m able to control these powers by my willpower, try calming down and focusing on being visible again, then you’ll go back to normal, I hope.”

Susan takes a deep breath and closes her eyes to focus on reappearing while Johnny’s words are fresh in mind, and after a moment or two in deep meditation, her entire body slowly becomes visible once more with the process starting at her head and finishing at her toes before the pair share a much needed hug not a second after she reappears, with Johnny’s body and tone of voice becoming enthusiastic as he speaks within the embrace. So, what should we do with these powers? Maybe we could form a superhero team.”

“I think you've been reading too many of your comic books, although I think we need to do further research into the full capabilities of our powers, only one thing’s for certain, they have something to do with the cosmic storm we flew through. Don’t worry, we will figure this out together.” Susan holds her brother a little tighter to give themselves support, then a surprising thought comes into her mind. “If we now have powers caused by the cosmic storm, and there were four of us on the ship, do you think Reed and Ben have powers well?”

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Ben's distant scream give the Storm Siblings a partial answer as they run back towards the crash site fearing the worst for the others, the worry of which causes Susan to shift through phases of visibility while Johnny begins lighting himself ablaze as he runs faster and faster until he is lifted off the ground with his flames acting as jet to carry him.

A surprised smile soon reappears on his face when he looks down at his fiery body hovering fifty feet above the ground before hooping and hollering as he flies around without a care in the world. "Oh yes! Sue, look at me! I can fly! I mean how awesome is that? Can this day honestly get any better?"

Susan is quick to give a powerfully cold glare that causes Johnny to return to the ground as his normal self, where she plans to reprimand her brother about how he is already forgetting about what just happened to them as they reemerge at the crash site before they're both shockingly reminded about the consequences of the crash upon witnessing the state of the other two astronomical travelers. The Siblings’ mouths are agape in shock as they watch Ben viscously attack Reed with all of his might as he is now permanently changed into a seven foot orange rock man while Reed unnaturally stretches his whole body around Ben in a pretzel-like shape to restrain him until he calms down.

Reed finally comes into view with his head and stretchy neck appearing behind Ben, out of reach of his stony fists while being wrapped around his body. “Now, Ben, if you would please calm down and listen, I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for our predic-”

"Reasonable!? You dare call what's happened to me reasonable!?" Ben growls while grabbing Reed by his stretchy neck and throwing him off of his body, Ben's voice becoming more gravely as a result of his transformation. "LOOK AT ME! I'm now a monster with four fingers instead of five because of this little simple trip to space, and it's all your fault! Now I'm gonna see far you can really stretch as I tear you limb from limb!"

While Johnny snickers at this turn of events, especially Ben's condition, Susan fearlessly steps in between Ben charging at Reed and raises her hands in the hopes of someone seeing reason, but Susan wasn’t expecting to produce a powerful force field of invisible energy to hold the two at arm’s length before anyone can come to harm. Ben grits his teeth in anger and pounds on the field with the means of breaking through, but it doesn’t budge, only getting stronger the more Susan focuses. 

“Out of my way, Suzie! I’m gonna rip Reed’s head off, and I don’t care who I gotta go through to do it! But I don’t wanna hurt ya!”

“I don’t want to hurt you, either, Ben, but these powers are new frightening. I don’t know if I can control them, so don’t test me!” Susan growls and grits her teeth as well, scaring Ben and Reed into calming down as Reed reforms himself back to normal and Johnny joins the group. “Now, it’s clear the cosmic storm we were exposed to changed the four of us on a fundamental level in different ways, I can turn myself invisible and create force fields at will, Reed, you can stretch yourself far beyond normal human means. Ben, you’ve

“Turned into to a freak." Ben injects in a tone of cold self deprecation before Susan could have come up with a more delicate term to describe his new state of being. "It's what everybody here is thinkin', except we're all freaks now and no one seems brave enough to confront the person responsible, but I will." His anger no longer seems to be at himself as he booms towards Reed with a death glare that sends an ice cold chill down his rubber spine. "I warned you something terrible was gonna happen if we into space without knowing what to expect, and now, you've led us here. What do you have to say for yourself, Reed?"

The two stare each other down for a moment or two, but Reed is first to break and wallow in his own immeasurable shame and guilt over what happened to himself and the only people in the world he can confidently call his friends, then Johnny steps in front of them to offer some levity by standing in front of the pair as they seem seconds away from going at each other's throats until the boy snaps his fingers to produce a flame to wave about in a comical fashion in the hopes of making someone laugh before tensions can escalate to dangerous proportions. “Will someone please look at me? I can set myself on fire, and control it too, if anyone’s curious. It’s totally awesome, now who besides me can’t wait to see what else their powers can really do?”

“SHIELD can help you master your abilities, young man. In fact, SHIELD can help all of you.” The four travelers must put aside their differences and react when Howard Stark soon converages on the crash site with at least a dozen Military Police Officers at his side. Howard gives a greatly disappointed look to Reed and Susan as the MPs move in to capture the group. “Everyone here has a lot to answer for, especially why you all snuck aboard and launched a five billon dollar spacecraft, only to crash it one hour later. For now, you’re all under arrest.”

Even though the four barely have a grasp on their powers, they easily trounce the MPs with Johnny acting first by simply melting the metal cuffs when they’re put around his wrists as Susan uses her powers to create a force field around her own wrists before expanding the field outward until the cuffs crumble like paper, followed by Reed focusing to make his hands floppy and loose like rubber before slipping his hands out and reforming them into two huge mallets to defend himself and his family if he must. 

Lastly, the lead MP stands frozen where he is as he tries to work out how to attach the tiny, human-sized cuffs to Ben’s gigantic stone hands, until he looks at Howard completely perplexed as what to do next.”Sir, should we continue with your order? The four don’t seem to be cooperating.”

“No shit!” Howard groans and pinches his nose in exasperation of the recent chaotic events surrounding the four and he knows things will get worse before they even have a chance to get better, leading him to giving a new order. “Just put black hoods over each of their heads and bring them back to the base, it's way past time we have a frank discussion!"

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for spliting the plot into two chapters, I just wanted more time to explore character without rushing things in order to get end of this plot, but the team will come together by the end of the next chapter. Please feel free to comments because it warms my heart when you do, especially the characterization of the four, I was afraid of not being able to get the characterization of the team and the dynamics with one another quite right when I was writing this first chapter, so please let me know your thoughts.


End file.
